9-27-2021 Newsletter

 

INCO SAYS, "#WE CARE" INCO thanked medical staff at Providence Seaside and Columbia Memorial Hospitals with gift packages of thank you notes, gift cards, art, snacks, and other treats. Thanks to everyone who contributed money, goods, and time to assemble and distribute our gifts. INCO and other Indivisible groups started the #WeCare program through COIN (Consolidated Oregon Indivisible Network. RECOVERY, INFRASTRUCTURE, SOCIAL GOOD House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told her caucus Saturday that they must vote this week to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government, as well as the two major infrastructure bills on which they have been working for months: the Build Back Better Act and the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Congressional Republicans oppose these bills, and several conservative Democrats, including Oregon's Kurt Schrader, intend to weaken the bills.  Please urge your Members of Congress to pass these crucial bills the country needs and that most Americans want.   THE GOP PLAN TO DEMOLISH DEMOCRACY  "... we now have written proof of an attempt to destroy our democracy and replace it with an autocracy." -- Heather Cox Richardson, Letter from an American, September 24, 2021 INCO urges you to read this step-by-step outline by historian Heather Cox Richardson of what key Republicans are doing in their quest for absolute power, with or without Trump. Good intentions and good legislation won't matter if the Republican Party succeeds in its stated intention to overturn our democracy.   Pro-democracy groups, including INCO, need you, now more than ever.  Climate remains a priority issue for progressives. These teens were among 200 people at INCO's Global Climate Strike Rally in Astoria, September 27, 2019. More photos above and below.  YOU AND REDISTRICTING Today is the deadline for the Oregon legislature to approve new maps for Oregon's seats in the US House of Representatives and for our state house and senate legislative districts. If they don't agree on a map, then Secretary of State Shemia Fagan will make the final choice. For more information about redistricting or how to participate, read this article in the Astorian or this one in the Oregon Capital Insider. For information on the process and to see the proposed maps, viisit www.oregonlegislature.gov/redistricting. LOOKING AHEAD TO SUCCESS  "We can’t exhaust ourselves over each day’s news. Nor should we collapse all the battles we must face in the future into a single moment of worry today. We will have time to deal with future battles as they arise, and many of the events of today will be irrelevant next week. We should spend more time and energy investing in the long-term goals for 2022 and 2024. Not only will that investment bring success nearer, but it will also provide a productive and healthy outlet for our anxiety over the bottomless depravity of the GOP." -- Robert Hubbell, Today's Edition, September 23, 2021 CELEBRATE OUR RIGHT TO READ Don't let extremists of any kind stop you from reading, especially about ideas and information censors don't like or don't want you to know about. Democracy depends on a well-informed citizenry, so let's keep reading. This year's annual event is September 26 - October 2. See which books are most challenged and banned at bannedbooksweek.org. HAPPENINGS  EVERY FRIDAY - INCO Write to Voters Virtual Group, 3 - 4 pm. Via Zoom. If you are new to this group, contact incoregon@gmail.com to get the Zoom link. More details about writing to voters are below. Join us for informal conversation, venting, and solving the world's problems. Pets welcome. Tuesday, October 12 - INCO South County Community Group Zoom meeting, 6:30 pm - 8 pm. Please RSVP to Kathleenannmacdonald@yahoo.com thru Monday, October 11 for your Zoom link. Write To Voters - Special elections and issue campaigns need you year-round. INCO encourages you to sign up to write to voters at www.postcardstovoters.org. For general Get Out the Vote campaigns, sign up at Vote Forward. For supplies or information, contact incoregon@gmail.com. INSIGHTS “Don’t live your life as though it’s your last day, but treat others as though it’s their last day.” — Anonymous reader’s comment, New York Times, 8-24-21 New York Times graphic. Comments, news, and photos to INCO at incoregon@gmail.com.  Resources and other information at www.incoregon.org and www.indivisible.org. Encourage others to sign up for the INCO newsletter at our website or here. INCO Weekly Newsletter September 27, 2021